Chapter 6: A Light-Hearted Invasion
"You've never ridden through Minas Tirith before, have you?"
Tanith, son of Lord Uriens of Dol Amroth, shook his head as he dismounted from his horse. He looked at his friend Elphir, the youngest son of Prince Imrahil and an Ithilien Ranger, who was smirking at him knowingly.
"Could be simply I'm not a show-off like some people." he replied, rubbing his horse down. He took a good look around at the stable. "Elessar has made some improvements to the stable areas. I'm glad to see it."
Elphir glanced about him, taking in his surroundings, though he couldn't wait to see his sister and cousins again. He did remember spending a great deal of time in these stables when he was a youngster trailing after his brothers and Faramir and Boromir.
"I think it's probably Faramir's doing. Elessar no doubt has more than enough on his plate without worrying about improving the stables." he remarked. "As for being glad, Faramir'll be glad to see you, I'll wager."
"I'm looking forward to seeing him as well." Tanith said as the other Swan Knights in their party gathered at the entrance to the stable. "I haven't been properly introduced to his new Princess yet. They won't horsewhip us for turning up at the first light of day, will they?"
"You know Faramir." Elphir remarked, wandering down the stable to the other end of the stalls. "He won't, he'll be too happy to see us, but I don't think we're safe from Eowyn."
"Huh." Tanith remarked, leaning against one of the stall doors.
Within moments, Elphir had located the horse he had been looking for. Scratching his sister's mare between the eyes, he greeted her. "Hello, Lightfoot. I would have expected my sister to have you out in the fields at this early hour."
He continued to caress the horse, remembering the elation with which Lothiriel had greeted the horse, a gift from Faramir and Boromir. His cousins had bred the horse especially for Lothiriel two years before the War. After Boromir's death, Faramir had decided to raise the horse himself. He trained her between campaigns, seeing to it that the beautiful mare saw nothing of the war.
When presented with Lightfoot on her twenty-first birthday and told that it was Boromir's final gift to her, Lothiriel had showered the Prince of Ithilien with love and affection, proclaiming him the best and kindest of cousins. Such attention had embarrassed Faramir badly, so he was glad when she was on the horse and riding through the gardens of the Emyn Arnen estate within minutes.
After kissing the horse between the eyes, Elphir turned and walked out of the stable, followed closely by Tanith and his men. The extra spring in his step showed his enthusiasm for being in the great City of Kings once more. He enjoyed the company of Elessar and his Elvish Queen very much, finding them to be kind, gracious, and very amusing when they had a mind to be. Imrahil himself was very fond of Elessar, having known him years before as a man called Thorongil.
"And how has Lothiriel fared in Emyn Arnen this past month?" Tanith asked as they passed through the entrance to the Steward's Residence. "Not bored, I hope. The estate is rather isolated, if I remember correctly."
"She was very taken with Emyn Arnen, though before I left her with Faramir and Eowyn she was asking to take a trip back to Rohan." Elphir replied.
"Rohan?" Tanith was taken aback.
"She liked the land and the people very much." Elphir explained. "And I think the king of Rohan was a very valuable asset to the land in my sister's eyes."
"Ah." Tanith nodded, understanding. "Well, the king of Rohan is hardly difficult to look at, even from a man's point of view. I wouldn't be surprised if your sister was taken with him. Is that why she was so restless these past months before your father allowed her to visit Ithilien?"
"That was my assumption." Elphir said. "Amrothos was hoping that sending her to Ithilien would cure her of her fancy for Eomer King. He's been telling Father for the past eight months that Lothiriel is far too young to be married and that he ought to put an end to her restlessness before it brings harm to her. I think Amrothos is bored himself and I'm only glad that he hasn't turned his attention to me yet."
"You know I love your sister as my own and it would be easy to keep her in Dol Amroth with us always, but as it's just you and me, I'll tell you that I believe she would have a good life in Rohan. I've never met King Eomer before, but if he's everything she claims he is..." Tanith trailed off, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
Elphir shook his head, refraining from smacking Tanith. It was only when he looked around that he registered the unusual number of people running around the hall at the early hour. He raised an eyebrow, confused.
"Danae!" he called, reaching out to grab the arm of his sister's maid rushing by.
"My lord Elphir!" she gasped aloud, quickly curtsying. "We did not look for your father's party until midday!"
"I pray my cousin will not be too annoyed with our early arrival." Elphir replied. "My father will not arrive until early this evening. Our company split and we rode on ahead. Several of the horses threw shoes and my father decided to halt and deal with the problem sooner rather than later."
Danae looked from Elphir to Tanith, then at some of the other Swan Knights behind the two. "I'll inform Prince Faramir and his Lady that you have arrived."
"Thank you." Elphir nodded at her, wondering at the young woman's nervousness. "Oh, and if you will, tell my sister we have arrived. I have looked forward to seeing her again after such a long time."
"Yes, my lord." Danae curtsied again, and then fled from their presence, right past Elfhelm, who had witnessed the entire exchange.
"Prince Elphir." the Second Marshall of the Riddermark came forward to greet the party from Dol Amroth. In his mind, even a minute-long delay could be of some use to the errant Eomer and Lothiriel.
"Marshall Elfhelm!" Elphir exclaimed, pleased to see a familiar face so quickly. He reached out to grasp the Rohirric's forearm. "And don't use my title. My father is the Prince."
"As you wish." Elfhelm bowed slightly.
A loud noise from behind had them all jumping slightly. Elphir looked around and shook his head.
"It was a mistake for Faramir to move into this house." he muttered. "Tell me, Elfhelm, how goes the Riddermark? And your king as well? Will Eomer be along presently to greet us as a good ally and friend, or shall I match swords with him later?"
Tanith snorted before he could stop himself. His amusement only grew as Elphir turned and glared at him. "I'm sorry, Elphir, truly sorry, but your sister's maid is not the only one touched in the head if you believe you can outmatch Eomer of Rohan in a duel." he laughed, earning some snickers from the knights behind him.
"Allow me to introduce the Prince's jester." Elphir gave Tanith a shove, a bit harder than necessary in retaliation for the light-hearted taunting. Clapping him on the shoulders, he went on to add, "In reality, a true knight worthy of the Swan Banner, Lord Tanith, son of Lord Uriens."
Unable to contain a hearty laugh, Elfhelm greeted the dark-haired, clean-shaven young man. "I've heard tales of your valor during the War, Lord Tanith."
Tanith, like Elphir before him, waved off the title. "I'm no lord, Marshall. And the tales are true. Especially the exaggerations."
"Is that my big brother once again making a fool of himself in the Hall of the Steward?"
Elfhelm breathed a heavy sigh of relief at the sight that greeted them at the doorway. Princess Lothiriel of Dol Amroth and King Eomer of Rohan were walking through the halls together, their hands entwined with each other.
One of the knights took note and nudged the man next to him.
As Elphir turned to greet his sister, Lothiriel let go of Eomer's hand and jumped into his arms.
Elphir twirled Lothiriel around. "In your absence, someone must provide comic relief for the men!" he finally set her on the ground and kissed both of her cheeks. "You look wonderful, sister!"
Lothiriel narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest. "And?" she cocked an eyebrow, waiting.
"And what?" Elphir asked innocently as Tanith began sneaking around in back of Lothiriel.
"What's the punchline, my dear sweet brother?" she demanded.
"My dear suspicious, paranoid sister, the punchline is sneaking up behind you." Elphir exclaimed triumphantly
Lothiriel whirled around just in time for Tanith to realize that he had been betrayed by his friend. His expression changed from one of diabolical glee to one of dismay as Lothiriel pounced upon him, hugging him.
Taken aback again by their Princess's boldness, some of the older Knights looked at each other. Elfhelm noticed the annoyance in their countenance and grew a bit more nervous. Maybe Faramir had been right after all.